It’s award season time, and it isn’t an awards season without those little indies that could getting in on the action. Today marked the announcement of the 2013 Independent Spirit Award nominees, and many of the buzzy films from the past year made it into the race.

It’s not all smooth-sailing, though: the announcement of Silver Linings Playbook in the pool caused a bit of controversy, as the film’s budget was reportedly over the $20 million cut-off point set by the governing body of the awards, but it seems as though the Weinsteins handled that little issue to keep it as a contender. This year’s Spirit Awards are scheduled to air at 10PM on Saturday, February 23, 2013 on IFC—only one day before the Academy Awards. The full list of nominees is below.

BEST FEATURE

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Bernie

Keep the Lights On

Moonrise Kingdom

Silver Linings Playbook

BEST DIRECTOR

Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom)

Julia Loktev (The Loneliest Planet)

David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)

Ira Sachs (Keep the Lights On)

Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

BEST FIRST FEATURE

Fill the Void

Gimme the Loot

Safety Not Guaranteed

Sound of My Voice

Perks of Being a Wallflower

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD

Breakfast With Curtis (Laura Colella)

Middle of Nowhere (Ava DuVernay)

Mosquita y Mari

(Aurora Guerrero)

Starlet (Sean Baker)

The Color Wheel (Alex Ross Perry)

BEST SCREENPLAY

Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom)

Zoe Kazan (Ruby Sparks)

Martin McDonagh (Seven Psychopaths)

David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)

Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias (Keep the Lights On)

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Rama Burshtein (Fill the Void)

Derek Connolly (Saftey Not Guaranteed)

Nicholas Jarecki (Arbitrage)

Rashida Jones & Will McCormack (Celeste and Jesse Forever)

Jonathan Lisecki (Gayby)

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Linda Cardellini (Return)

Emayatzy Corinealdi (Middle of Nowhere)

Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild

)

Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Smashed)

BEST MALE LEAD

Jack Black (Bernie)

Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)

John Hawkes (The Sessions)

Thure Lindhardt (Keep the Lights On)

Matthew McConaughey (Killer Joe)

Wendell Pierce (Four)

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Rosemarie DeWitt (Your Sister’s Sister)

Ann Dowd (Compliance)

Helen Hunt (The Sessions)

Brit Marling (Sound of My Voice)

Lorraine Toussaint (Middle of Nowhere)

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Matthew McConaughey (Magic Mike)

David Oyelowo (Middle of Nowhere)

Michael Pena (End of Watch)

Sam Rockwell (Seven Psychopaths)

Bruce Willis (Moonrise Kingdom)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Beasts of the Southern Wild

End of Watch

Here

Moonrise Kingdom

Valley of Saints

BEST DOCUMENTARY

The Central Park Five

How to Survive a Plague

The Invisible War

Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present

The Waiting Room

BEST FOREIGN FILM

Amour

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

Rust and Bone

Sister

War Witch

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

Starlet

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD

Alicia Van Couvering (Nobody Walks)

Mynette Louie (Stones in the Sun)

Derrick Tseng (Prince Avalanche

)

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

David Fenster (Pincus)

Adam Leon (Gimme the Loot)

Rebecca Thomas (Electrick Children)

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel)

Only the Young (Jasonyyee Tippet and Elizabeth Mimms)

The Waiting Room (Peter Nicks)

What do you think of the nominees? Surprised by any? Disappointed by this missing? Let us know in the comments!